Ever Since Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined Canada’s role in a changing geopolitical order at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, it was clear more strategic moves from Ottawa were on the horizon. Now, amidst a trade war with Washington and continued threats to Canadian sovereignty, Canada is set to become the first associate member of the European Union, a position that still has to be fully defined but sends a clear message. The era of Canada and the United States being natural allies is over, the ideals of Europe and European geography are amenable to changes in the shifting order, and middle powers like Canada under Carney are making sure that their voices are heard loud and clear. This does not mean that a larger association grouping or even membership path for Turkey, Morocco, and other states on Europe’s periphery will form tomorrow or in the coming months. It does signal that the transatlantic bond between Washington and Brussels is seriously frayed, the EU is redefining its values in real time, and new forms of regional and global cooperation will continue to form in the absence of traditional American leadership.

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For Brussels, Carney speaks the language of Europe and its values of an ever-closer union, both within and beyond its member states. Deeply knowledgeable of the European policymaking process from his time as an investment banker and central banker leading the Bank of England during Brexit, he has witnessed firsthand the declining influence of states and the reassessment of national priorities. Carney’s mission is not to challenge the immovable laws of geography and make Canada a European state. Carney’s mission is to entrench and institutionalise Canada’s alliance with Europe, recognising shared security threats from trade and climate change to the status of Canada’s........

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